Pre-empting Muslim extremists in Pakistan and India, Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan has pulled out of an upcoming event in New Delhi because novelist Salman Rushdie is also set to attend, according to an official from his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party.

Mr. Khan’s decision to cancel his trip to India is likely to fuel critics who already say he is too quick to appease the more stringent and harsh elements of Islamic society in Pakistan. Read More »

Novelist Salman Rushdie was denied permission to address the Jaipur Literature Festival through a video Tuesday, after Rajasthan police warned organizers of the risk of violent protests by Islamist groups.

The cancellation comes days after the author announced he would not travel to India as scheduled, citing alleged security threats.

Many Muslims oppose Mr. Rushdie over his 1988 novel “The Satanic Verses,” which they consider blasphemous and is banned in India.

In an interview late Tuesday on news channel NDTV, Mr. Rushdie attacked authorities for failing to ensure he could safely address crowds at Jaipur. Read More »

Salman Rushdie’s planned video appearance at the Jaipur Literature Festival was canceled at the last minute after police warned of security threats.

The cancellation of the video link, which comes after the author announced he would no longer travel to India as planned, was met with mixed reactions by those in the crowd at the festival, flaring up a debate on how to balance religious sensitivity and democratic freedoms.

“We have not stopped him” from coming to Jaipur, said Mohammed Salim Engineer of the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, an Islamist group that opposed Mr. Rushdie. Read More »

The cancellation Tuesday of novelist Salman Rushdie’s planned video link to the Jaipur Literature Festival followed worries that an interview would lead to a serious public-safety incident.

Mr. Rushdie is reviled among many Muslims in India for his 1988 novel “The Satanic Verses,” which they consider blasphemous. Police in Jaipur told India Real Time they had received information that Muslim groups threatened to stage protests if the video conference with the Booker Prize-winning authors went through. Read More »

For a column on India’s book bans in the Business Standard, literary critic Nilanjana Roy purchased copies of old customs manuals from a bookshop that sells government publications. She then painstakingly went through the list of notifications of import restrictions at the end of each.

“I found it fascinating reading,” she said, explaining that the names of books that were found unsuitable for India were interspersed in between a large variety of goods and products. Read More »

After Salman Rushdie announced he would not, after all, be coming to the Jaipur Literature Festival it was difficult to attend a session without his name coming up. Many lamented the absence of the author, who canceled his trip over alleged security threats, as well as the implications this has for cultural freedom in India.

Some, like literary critic and writer Nilanjana Roy, have called on the Indian government to review its almost quarter-century ban on Mr. Rushdie’s “The Satanic Verses.” Read More »

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India Real Time offers analysis and insights into the broad range of developments in business, markets, the economy, politics, culture, sports, and entertainment that take place every single day in the world’s largest democracy. Regular posts from Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires reporters around the country provide a unique take on the main stories in the news, shed light on what else mattered and why, and give global readers a snapshot of what Indians have been talking about all week. You can contact the editors at indiarealtime(at)wsj(dot)com.